The avian wondered sometimes, while bringing his hands to his mouth to warm them, what life had in store for him. He never remained still these days, entering and leaving the base on mission after mission. He'd chosen this life though - he reminded himself that - and it was the thought of protecting the innocent that kept him going.

Less than 24 hours before he had been at the base, the gentle voice of his mate humming through the phone, wishing him luck, telling him that this mission would bring a change in the war.

In the darkness before dawn, Ria had perched himself in one of the few trees that marked the end of the peace. It was barren, all one hundred metres or so being completely bare of life and joy. He'd spent the hours before sunrise digging through the nest that had survived hundreds of summers of abandonment. There wasn't much that had survived so long, but it was something of comfort to smell the old avians that used to live here. It was the smell of a calmer time, he couldn't smell death here.

He had reread his mission over and over, he knew how it was going to play out - if everything went to plan of course - but he was still nervous.

His watch beeped. He took a breath, and zoned into the minute sounds that radiated from the military train station. A slam of a door here, a ring of a phone there. He waited for his watch to beep again, and when it did, he leapt from the tree, spread out his wings, including his smaller pair, and soared. Climbing higher and higher into the air, Ria felt more and more at home. When he reached some 500 metres into the air, he tucked his wings in, pointed his head to the earth, and fell. Fast as a bullet, he was diving directly towards the roof of the train station. Diving at some 350km/h meant that the scanners had no way of picking him up. And even if they did, the peregrine falcon knew that their weapons weren't fast enough.

Drawing his swords when he got closer to the roof, his smaller wings opened to slow him ever so slightly. And with the grace of a swan, he sliced through the rusting roof and landed in the control centre. His black eyes met pure terror, three sets of eyes staring him, horrified.

"Leave now and I won't have to hurt you," he spoke, voice low and menacing. The three humans shakily got up from their chairs and rushed out, not letting their eyes leave his small frame once.

He noted that every single worker was taller than him, but they crept around him like he was a sleeping beast, like Naira, the god of wisdom. Something big and wild and truly untamed, who rested and left fear in their powerful wake. Who could just open their eyes at humans, like Ria was now, and stare into their soul. Ria took a deep breath in, let the power of Naira and the other gods pump through his veins, and ran out into the building.

The train station looked old. It was worn down and in desperate need of repair, the roof was rusted, the technology looked ancient, and the doors creaked as Ria brushed past them, his wings leaving lines in the dust.

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted something moving in the shadows, and aimed his sword at it.

"Show yourself!" He shouted, eye twitching.

"Hiedan Derse," the figure replied, "Ria Bedia."

"Hiedan Derse, Lucy Hide."

The figure stepped out of the shadows, a hulking form that was at least a foot and a half taller than the avian. She wore loose, camouflaging material and in her hand was a revolver. The two of them shared a stare, a clash of black on green, and Ria took the lead.

The two of them in a short time had managed to scare off most of the workers - the soulless eyes of Ria and the sheer height of his companion, Lucy, had been enough to deter them from putting up a fight.

Except one.

The man that stood across them was the most senior officer on the station, and he had two guns drawn, one on Ria, and one on Lucy.

"Drop your weapons!" He shouted, voice shaky, carrying the shake of his scarred hands.

Ria's wings flapped. His watch beeped. And he ran.

He ran right towards the human, letting out an ear-piercing shriek, and in that split second, time seemed to slow. The gun fired, coming right towards his bottom wing, he knew that continuing on this path would be the only way. His bottom wing would heal - the merfolk that lived at Base X had supplied him with ample healing cream - and so he continued.

Both sides of the fight felt searing pain at the same time. Ria had raked his sharpened claws over the man's face, and in return the man had left a bullet in his wing.

The man before him wailed, wincing and whining, like it would change the four wounds that went across his face. And Ria stood, panting. His whole body moving up and down with every breath he took. He showed no remorse, stepping over the man's body.

"Come on Lucy. We have a train to catch."

In the late evening, the companions found themselves settled in a carriage. The sun was just shining through the rickety window, giving the cabin an orange glow. The light flickered as they went over a bump in the track, and Ria watched as the filament ignited once more.

"So, Ria," the human began, snapping the other out of his daze.

"Yes?"

"That cream, it's of merfolk origin, yes?"

"Mhm, got it made just before we left. The elders were very willing to give it to me, too."

"I've never seen a merfolk before. Always been stationed away from the waters."

"You'll meet one in Cambi. We're not only going there to return the prince, we're visiting a younger merfolk who has a connection with Etchi."

"Etchi is the water goddess, right? Or am I terribly confused?"

"No, you're correct in saying that."

The cabin fell quiet again. Ria occupied himself with making a small nest from the old cloth that was strewn across the floor, and gave it a sniff. It was horribly familiar, the smell of wet air and candle smoke. He put that one right next to where his head will lie, and continued making the nest.

"Tell me about Farle, I hear it's a beautiful place. I'd love to visit it someday." Lucy spoke, when the sun was just dipping below the horizon.

And so Ria did. He talked about Adrenaline Cliffs and the royal mansion and that little coffee shop near his house where he met his mate. For once in the war, both the human and avian felt at peace. And as they looked out of the rickety window and watched the sunset, the war and the death was merely an afterthought.

As they spoke, the lights of North Cambi slowly came into view on the amber horizon.